Alexandria Board of Selectmen
January 20, 2009
Members Present: Cindy Williams and Tom McGowan
The meeting came to order at 6:00 p.m. with both members present.
Pledge of Allegiance-given
Distribution of Minutes: The minutes of January 13, 2009 were distributed to the public for review.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of December 30 and January 6 were approved by a vote of 2-0.
Department Heads:
Christie Phelps: A reminder was given to the selectmen that they are meeting in a work session
on Thursday. February 3 is the public hearing on the budget; that is posted on the website as
well as having been advertised in the paper. The new e-mail group will also receive notification. Alexis, Helen and Christie met this afternoon with the applicants for the transfer station. One has been chosen and will be notified tomorrow to start immediately. The dampers in the utility room have been inspected by another contractor who will get a price to replace the one that needs it. The new cleaning person started today and is doing a good job.
Helen LoPresti: Helen asked what size building would be appropriate at the transfer station for a
”hut” for people to stand in out of the cold. 6x8 was determined to be sufficient. Tom is meeting with Steve Whitman tomorrow to work on ideas for the structure.
Don Sullivan: Christie explained that Don Sullivan was scheduled for last week, but did not make it. He had a meeting this evening and asked Christie to submit his statistical reports to the selectmen.
Items Requiring Signature:
Information requested by Plodzik & Sanderson (the auditors) was signed and will be sent tomorrow
One warrant for Excavation Tax was signed for Boake Morrison (the numbers from the intent were
used to calculate the tax rather than from the report)
Abatements were signed for John Stokoe, N.E. Power and Boake Morrison
Old Business:
Generator
Public Hearing:
At 6:09, the public hearing on the bond issued commenced. Christie explained that the purpose
of the public hearing is to receive comment on issuing a bond in excess of $100,000 in reference to the Washburn Road Bridge Project. The selectmen have not yet determined whether or not the project will be on the warrant, but in the even that it is, borrowing in excess of $100,000 will be involved; therefore, the reason for the public hearing. A question was asked as to what the price of the project is; the answer was $1.15 million. The engineering company has been requested to go back and revisit their design to see if there are lower cost alternatives and whether or not repairs could be made to the bridge to get it by for several more years. The engineering firm is Dubois and King. The state estimated at the end of 2006 that the bridge would cost approximately $585,000. Cindy said that the state’s price is usually high. It is hard to understand why we are over a million dollars just two years later. Because the state’s portion of money for the project is not available until July of 2013, the town would need to borrow money to work on the project prior to that date. There would be considerable amounts of interest paid on the funds to be borrowed. The town is also waiting for an interim bridge report from the state. The proposed bridge is 40 feet long; the current one is 26’ long. The state is discouraging the construction of abutments in the stream or brook, so the design called for an extended bridge. Kate asked if the engineering firm will be charging additional money for the alterations. Christie said they would. A question as to how much traffic comes across that road was asked; Christie said she did not know the answer. Cindy thought that Dennis Ford had that information. The general consensus of those present was that the project is very expensive and not appropriate at this time. Another question was how long it would take to complete the project. The engineer had estimated one construction season. A temporary bridge is included in the cost of the project due to the loss of time during an emergency if the traffic had to rerouted through Danbury and up over the four corners. Larry Stickney asked if any consideration had been given to having the town crew do the repairs. Christie said that the replacement of the bridge as submitted by the engineering firm is outside of the ability of our present highway crew. Larry stated that the town is not bound to follow the engineer’s advice. Cindy said that there has been some discussion of the town doing some repairs to the present bridge. Tom said that Jeff had suggested installing a culvert bridge there. Christie indicated that the state is hesitant to allow the installation of a culvert bridge unless it is replacement another. Larry said the project needs to be researched further. Christie said she has asked the engineering company to look at the cost of repairing the bridge. Christie said she would not recommend the project, and Cindy stated that more information is certainly necessary before an article is placed on the warrant. It most likely will not appear this year.
The public hearing was closed at 6:30 p.m.
Other:
Helen LoPresti asked if it was acceptable to order the supplies for the hut. Cindy said she needs a price
first.
Bonnie asked if anything had been done about the parking lot lights. Christie said they keep reminding the electrician about the need for repairs.
Anyone interested in signing up for office is reminded that the sign up period ends next Friday at 5:00 p.m. The town clerk/tax collector is not open on Wednesday.
Kate Barrett asked about National Grid spraying along the power lines. Cindy said that Andrew Maves may be someone to contact to get further information on that.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:42 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Christie Phelps,
Town Administrator